Kindy Workshop - West Ambae

 Most of my Peace Corps work is within the primary and center schools throughout West Ambae.  But, we also have 15 Kindys in our zone area.  The Kindy teachers asked me to help teach them about phonics and other literacy skills to help get their students ready to go to grade one.  We did a 2 day workshop focusing on pre-reading skills and phonics. 

Here is the President of West Ambae's Kindy Teachers opening our time with a prayer.

My counterpart has a projector so I was able to make a powerpoint presentation and show it on the big screen.  We made handouts for each school as a resource for them to take back later.  22 Kindy teachers attended!

 Here they are doing some group work.  They are thinking about the activities that they already use in their Kindys such as water play, drawing, blocks, etc. and how they can integrate pre-reading, pre-writing, and pre-math skills inside.

Here is one group presenting their ideas.

 We also learned how to play some games to build up literacy skills through play.  Memory match was a big hit.

I also gave them time to create some materials for their classrooms.  I had collected cardboard for the past few months so they could make Bingo boards, game boards, flash cards, etc. 

 

I also gave them time to share some of their materials they already use to build up literacy skills.  Volovuhu school has made books out of cardboard written in their local language. 

 Here is Chris working on a future workshop for us while I facilitate this workshop.  Got to take advantage of the generator while you can!

At the end of the workshop the teachers presented me with a homemade cake and a small gift.  In our culture when you lead a workshop you are often given an empty bag at the end.  This represents the knowledge that you shared with them and they want you to go fill up your bag of knowledge again and share it with them at a future time.  Laef i olsem long Vanuatu.